New Art Print: Just be You

I have a new art print available in the shop.

This painting was created as part of the MATS illustration course I did. You can read about the process and see progress shots here.

A bit of wall decor... Example of "Just be You" framed 8 x 8"

It's such a simple yet inspirational and empowering quote. So many of us need a reminder that we don't need to try to be something else than our own unique, quirky and weird selves.

Just be you! Because everyone else is taken... :)

So from one shy person who at times can be riddled with insecurities, I'm finding this artwork is just as good a reminder to myself. 

I really enjoy my own company but am still learning how to completely own myself and be ok with who I am out in the wide world. I'm getting there slowly, the more I age :) 

I hope you like it!

You can find two sizes of this print here in the shop.

Jules :)

Free Sewing Room Print Download + Some Sewing Room Inspiration

Hello Creative Souls,

I recently made this sewing room wall art print as a Birthday gift for my Mum. I decided to make it available here on my creative blog as a free printable for you guys!

I printed out the image on my home inkjet printer on matte photo paper. I made a wooden panel for it to fit onto, but you could just as well frame it if you wanted, or get it printed onto a canvas.

I recently finished that unpcycled bunting there too- made from a thrifted scarf. And my Mum made that cotton holder for me :)

I would like to make a tutorial in the near future showing how I make my custom sized wooden panels. They are really quite easy and a cheap way to display a print without paying for custom framing. Old calendar images, postcards or gift cards would work with this method fantastically for some really cost effective art for your walls.

The colours look slightly different in the photos, blue always seems to be tricky to photograph for my camera

But back to the print. I found the image of the sewing lady from The Graphics Fairy and then placed her on a coloured background in photoshop, overlaying her on a scan of an old book cover which I recoloured, and added the text "may your bobbin always be full". 

To download the full printable sized file click here. 

(It's for personal use only; ie. for yourself or a gift, not to sell. Those typefaces I have used are not for commercial use.)

I cut some plywood the size of the print, then added some wooden sides to make a wood panel and a wire hanger. I glued the print on using mod podge (the panel was sealed first using gesso), then after the glue had dried I painted the sides with acrylic paint and then sealed the whole thing with acrylic gloss medium.

She looks nice in my sewing space! My sewing space used to be in my art studio but I was feeling too cramped in there so I moved it all into the guest room. 

I have an upcycled light in there too. I love making my own lights for my home. (This is light number 8 I have decorated and I have a big white one downstairs which has it's days numbered!)

I hope you like the print and at the very least I hope I have inspired you with my sewing space.

Jules :)

Getting Inspired by Kids Films

Kids art. Love it!

Miss I was watching Moana for about the zillionth time, and she was drawing as she watched it.

I loved her pencil drawing so much, I scanned it into my computer, enlarged it and printed it out. I coloured it in directly onto the printout, with my prismacolor pencils, then used acrylic paints & medium to give it some more colour.

The creature in the middle is a cat mermaid. The little lines down the right hand side bottom are apparently shrimp. 

I think the clouds in the top right are drawn from the lava creature that is at the end of the movie. There are a few spooky parts in the movie for young kids; but overall we are totally in love with this film. Have you seen it yet? 

I love the crab, the character design of him, the way he talks, all the sparkly collected things he has on his back. My girls crack up when he says that he ate his own Grandma, and it took a week because she was absolutely humungous! Kids movies are so fantastic these days. I think they put lots of adult humour in there for keeping the parents entertained too. 

The realm of the monsters was my favourite part due to the colour and seaweedy shapes covering underwater structures. They look like quirky sculptures. The crab I love lives down there in the realm of the monsters. Moana is definitely a creative film. (I tried to find a brighter picture of the realm, but this is all I found. Still very beautiful.)

I just love how this story is about a strong female figure with a leadership role in her community, and she doesn't even fall in love! Love is great n all, but most female characters in disney movies end up swooning over some guy, right!? So refreshing.

I'll leave you today with a quote. So simple & beautiful.

Have a great weekend!

Jules :)

Inspiration for Today

I love this quote. Sometimes we are waiting for the perfect time to begin something. "I can't start that painting/ open that shop/ learn that new skill before I complete or have x, y or z." (That could be a better camera, more time, more money, an organised house...) But I love to use the "do what you can, with what you have, where you are" mindset for anything we are wanting to do. Improvements can always be made down the track. So I think the most important thing to do is to just jump in and begin. 

Jules :)